080. Underwater Breathing

Sitting on his bed, Lu Ban still felt a sense of unreality. The misty town, the Fish-headed people monster, the unpalatable dinner, the stench of metal in the mud, and the pure white statue were like a nightmare. Whenever he closed his eyes, those tormenting images would appear before his eyes.

Looking at the morning sunlight, he felt for the first time how quiet and peaceful the world was.

But Lu Ban knew that beneath the calm lay an even deeper darkness.

At the Jiangcheng Grand Theater, Lu Ban was illuminated by the brilliance of distant stars, which was enough to extinguish his reason. This meant that there were also such strange, powerful, and indescribable evil beings in this world.

At least in Lu Ban's knowledge, there were already more than four Great Being whose power surpassed that of ordinary people.

"Insecure"

Although this world has the internet, electricity, and all kinds of modern facilities, and people don't need to be twisted into strange monsters or sacrifice their families for peace, is that really the case?

He thought of Du Danping.

To be honest, Lu Ban didn't react when he heard Du Danping's name from Trist's mouth.

But upon closer examination, he realized something was amiss.

Du Danping died twenty years ago, and his soul is bound to the Jiangcheng Grand Theater, where he contends with the Great Being of Aldebaran.

But Trist said that the last time he received information from Du Danping was before the two missions. According to the situation in the Silent Land, the interval between the two missions would not be as long as twenty years. Trist himself looked to be in his early thirties!

Was it that Trist encountered not Du Danping, but some being disguised as Du Danping, or was there a significant difference in the flow of time in the Silent Land?

Considering that every time Lu Ban enters the Otherworld, the Silent Land will prompt him about the conversion of time flow between the two worlds, could it be assumed that time in the Otherworld is faster than in the reality Lu Ban is in?

Or rather, can the Silent Land travel through time to other realms in the past or future?

Lu Ban couldn't understand it.

Of course, he didn't tell Trist that the big boss who brought him back then had been burned to death, and his soul and head had been smashed to pieces by Lu Ban.

This is for Trist's own good, to give him a glimmer of hope so that he can have more motivation to survive in the Silent Land!

Lu Ban also inquired about the information he had previously learned about Du Danping from Trist. According to Trist, the last time Du Danping contacted him was in this foreign land of Harmony Island, and there had been no further news since.

Lu Ban knew that Du Danping should have returned to reality afterward, and then met with an unexpected event that led to his death.

"So, if there's a chance later, I can go to Harmony Island to look for clues about Du Danping. By the way, [The Sigh of the Unfixed Mist] is also a material produced on Harmony Island. If I can get it all at once, I'll make a profit."

Lu Ban made up her mind that if she had to choose another realm later, she would prioritize the Harmony Island.

Faced with a world that could drive people mad, Lu Ban must strengthen himself. At the very least, if he encounters fellow travelers in the future, he will be able to help them to some extent, just as Trist helped him this time.

Putting Du Danping's matter aside, Lu Ban began to organize the gains from his mission.

"Nearly 13,000 Silence Points, I'm rich."

Lu Ban sighed.

Based on the average completion rate of 9,000, this represents an increase of approximately 40%, effectively earning the equivalent of an extra task's worth of rewards.

If I hadn't explored those stone statues and those strangely-looking Walking Corpses in the fog, if I hadn't investigated the Black Mother's beliefs, and if Lu Ban and Trist hadn't grasped the connection between the Hai family and the Black Mother, I probably wouldn't have achieved such a high level of mission exploration.

Of course, this is on the [Erosion] difficulty.

Lu Ban had serious doubts. If he chose the "Mortal" difficulty level, he might not even be able to enter the Hai family's gate and would just be watching the wedding procession from the side of the street.

"The last five percent should be the cause of death and the true identities of the Hai family members who died in that cave, right?"

Lu Ban pondered that although the information he obtained from that person indicated that the Fish-headed people monster was essentially a human mutation, and that the cause of the mutation was the sludge that emitted a metallic stench, Lu Ban still had no idea who that Fish-headed people was, why he died there, or how he died. There must be some unrevealed secrets behind this.

But this should have nothing to do with the final outcome; the Hai family is destined for destruction, that's all.

Meanwhile, the regular video footage has already been transferred to Lu Ban's computer.

"It's so big. It's going to burst."

Lu Ban looked at his 2TB hard drive, which had previously had plenty of space, but now it was completely full.

How big is this material?

If I work on the tasks for a few more days, I'm afraid I'll really burst my hard drive.

Lu Ban quickly went online and bought several large-capacity hard drives as backup.

It wouldn't be good if the system found that its hard drive was running out of space and forcibly deleted some movies.

Lu Ban didn't check the contents of the hard drive for the time being; he first glanced at his bank balance.

16,836 Silence Points.

The accumulated Silence Points are approaching 30,000. After completing the Career Development Task and doing another task, I estimate that I will be able to break through 50,000 accumulated points and unlock the next stage of the shop.

If you're lucky enough to get materials from each mission, after about three more missions, Lu Ban will be able to unlock the next stage of the [Last Words] essence.

"Thinking about it this way, I'm so poor."

The essence alone costs 50,000 points. If Lu Ban doesn't save it up, he might not even be able to afford to draw [Madman's Knowledge] anymore.

Lu Ban doesn't plan to spend money for now, at least not until he completes his Career Development Task and faces the next choice.

He then checked the skills he had acquired.

Underwater Breathing

"The ability to Underwater Breathing, does that mean you can Underwater Breathing, or does it have some other function?"

Lu Ban went straight to the bathroom, blocked the drain in the sink, turned on the faucet, and the sink quickly filled with water.

Lu Ban in the mirror seemed a little confused. He saw Lu Ban bury his head directly into the sink.

In that instant, Lu Ban sensed something unusual.

Humans generally cannot see clearly underwater, but now, Lu Ban can clearly see the tiny cracks on the ceramic of the sink.

The sound traveled through the water, making it exceptionally clear.

Lu Ban, who had been holding his breath, let out a sigh of relief.

He first smelled bleach entering his nostrils, followed by the cold water.

The water flowed into his lungs, where his alveoli extracted oxygen from it, converting it into the energy his Lu Ban needed, and then expelled the water with each breath.

Lu Ban knew perfectly well that as long as he was in oxygenated water, he could breathe continuously, just like he was on land.

At the same time, a complete knowledge of swimming emerged in his mind, enabling him to move at speeds exceeding those of athletes in sharkskin swimsuits in any complex body of water.

This feeling was wonderful, like opening the door to a new world, which made Lu Ban completely immersed in it.

Until the oxygen in the pool is depleted.

"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey—"

Having nearly become the first Chosen of the Gods to master Underwater Breathing and drown in his own sink, Lu Ban raised his head.

Lu Ban's reflection in the mirror showed him a crack in his skin near his throat, resembling the gills of a shark. The crack slowly opened and closed, gradually smoothing out and disappearing as he left the water.

"I can be the champion at holding my breath from now on!"

Lu Ban excitedly said to Lu Ban in the mirror.